At a meeting of the West Dunbartonshire Council Education Committee on 14^th September the Councils attainment strategy received unanimous support from Councillors; church representatives; trades union representatives; and lay members of the committee. The strategy sets out the Councils vision for improving Secondary Schools pupils attainment levels and includes an initiative to set up a dedicated team of five teachers to drive forward the required change. The Council already has a higher teacher pupil ratio in our Secondary Schools than the Scottish average. West Dunbartonshire Teacher Pupil Ratio in September 2010 was 12.4 to 1; while the Scottish average was just 12.1 to 1. Commenting on the Attainment Strategy Labour Group Leader Councillor Martin Rooney said: ‘The previous Labour Administration focussed on delivering the new secondary schools programme to ensure that our pupils could be taught in a welcoming environment with the most modern facilities. However, since 2007 I have been arguing that our focus should switch from bricks and mortar to approaches that support pupil attainment. I am delighted that the whole Council are now behind this  approach and the Attainment Strategy will direct this activity.’ Over recent  years West Dunbartonshire has fallen behind our comparator education authorities. As an education authority the council compares itself with five other education authorities that are similar in levels of poverty and related factors. These are Clackmannanshire, Inverclyde, Midlothian, North Ayrshire and Renfrewshire. Between 2009 and 2010  the percentage of pupils achieving three or more awards at SCQF level six or better by the end of S5 increased by 3% to 23% in our comparator authorities, while the national average increased by 2% to 25%. However, in West Dunbartonshire the percentage of pupils achieving three or more awards at SCQF level six or better by the end of S5 decreased by 1.4% to 17.6%. The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) Level 6 covers the Higher Grades A-C which students require  in order to gain access to University Education. Councillor Rooney added: ‘The new strategy to improve attainment and achievement is designed to deliver significant improvements to help our young people to access the many opportunities that a university education can provide.’

Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) levels: 

• Level 7 Advanced Higher at grades A-C
• Level 6 Higher at grades A-C
• Level 5 Intermediate 2 at grades A-C; Standard Grade at 1-2 (Credit)
• Level 4 Intermediate 1 at grades A-C; Standard Grade at 3-4 (General)
• Level 3 Access 3; Standard Grade at 5-6 (Foundation)

Excerpt from Report on Strategy to Improve Achievement and Attainment:

‘2.2. Close scrutiny of results in West Dunbartonshire from the period 2006 indicates that overall we perform below the national average and below our comparator authorities (Clackmannanshire, Inverclyde, Midlothian, North Ayrshire and Renfrewshire.) The initial appraisal of the 2011 SQA Exam Diet suggests slight improvement. A full report will be prepared for the next Education and Lifelong Learning Committee on 9 November 2011.’ (Terry Lanagan, Executive Director of Education, September 2011).

The full report and strategy can be found at the link below: (i) http://wdccmis.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/cmis5/Meetings/tabid/73/ctl/ViewMeetingPublic/mid/410/Meeting/7357/Committee/480/Default.aspx (i) http://www.westdunbartonshirelabour.org.uk/2009/12/west-dunbartonshire-second-bottom-of-school-league-tables-2009/ (ii) http://www.heraldscotland.com/go/schools

West Dunbartonshire Council has cut the Education budget by £3.24 Million in 2011/12, this equates to a 4.1% cut in funding.